Disconnected future for region’s landlines?
Long gone are the days when one could prank people by calling on their landlines and hanging up without speaking a word.
Once the newest technology to make life easier and communication instant, the landline telephone has seen better days.
With an ageing population, many New Zealanders may still remember the day they got landline phones with a smile on their faces and a mind full of the opportunities it opened.
In Southland, two companies run the landline services: Spark, which operates the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and Chorus’ copper programme, which supplies landlines and internet.
The PSTN, which is now nearing its end of life, was built in the 1980s.
Both companies have started withdrawing copper-based landlines from areas where new fibre technology is available, utilising voice-over fixed wireless or fibre broadband to operate.
Spark spokesperson Sam Smith said in Invercargill, 400 Spark customers from the southern and eastern suburbs had moved from the PSTN onto fibre or wireless options.
The company was working through helping customers in other areas of Invercargill to transition, depending on the availability of fibre, Smith said.
However, in Southland, there were still 2300 Spark customers still using the PSTN. “We are still planning which further suburbs we will work through next and when this will take place, but anyone impacted will receive plenty of notice before they need to make the change.”
Age Concern Southland manager Janette Turner said the removal of landlines was not affecting the elderly. “We haven’t had too many issues ... Everybody seems to be adapting. Most of them are using the mobile phone so they don’t have a landline charge.”
The charity had run “How To Text” classes and Turner said there were a lot of digital technology courses available, including one at Invercargill City Library.
In December 2022, the Telecommunications Disputes Resolution (TDR) saw a 17% increase in inquiries from the year before, but most were related to billing.
However, a TDR spokesperson said while it was not seeing a high volume of cases relating to copper withdrawal, it was an emerging theme.
As a point of distinction, on the copper network, a landline would still be functional when there was a power cut.
However, with the new fibre or wireless technology, Spark landlines will not work during a power cut. The company recommends “you have an alternative method, such as a charged mobile phone or a power backup device”.
In addition to the PSTN, Chorus also has copper broadband cabinets that it is looking to retire. A spokesperson said 36 of its 152 cabinets in Southland were in the process of being retired, including its exchange areas in Invercargill east and Mornington.